The Art of Winold Reiss: An Immigrant Modernist

This is the first volume to examine the work of the German-born Reiss (1886-1953), who immigrated to New York City in 1913 - the year that the Armory Show shook the American art scene to its core and inspired fierce debate over European modernist art and its relation to contemporary American art production. Steeped in a European aesthetic, Reiss brought his unique brand of modernism to the United States, establishing a reputation and material presence in New York City's cultural landscape. The volume features Reiss's iconic portraits of Harlem Renaissance figures, including both cultural icons such as Zora Neale Hurston, Langston Hughes, Alain Locke as well as members of the professional and working class (among them, doctors, teachers, and children). Also featured is his graphic design work, represented through elegant modernist examples of advertising, menus, calendars, and packaging produced for iconic New York establishments including the Restaurant Crillon and the Hotel Alamac Congo Room; graphic design of books by New York writers or books published in New York; and the interior design of the heralded Hotel St. George in Brooklyn.